If you have not noticed them, you have certainly seen them. They are everywhere! And despite their rudimentary look, simplistic design, and apparent lack of novelty, these things have been an integral part in revolutionizing, not just the shipping world, but the entire world. And what is more amazing is that they are not done yet. What are these “things”? They are the big, bulky, boxy and typically unattractive shipping or storage container boxes fabricated from steel, aluminum or other composite materials. They are hauled down the highway on semi trucks, over the rails on trains, stacked up high aboard ships, and neatly lined along the docks, warehouses and storage yards across the planet.
Marc Levinson describes how these containers have been an integral part in revolutionizing our world in his book titled “THE BOX: HOW THE SHIPPING CONTAINER MADE THE WORLD SMALLER AND THE WORLD ECONOMY BIGGER” published by Princeton University Press. Levinson describes the date of Apr. 26, 1956 in which fifty-eight of these containers were loaded onto the ship the IDEAL-X in Newark, N.J. and arrived in Houston, Tex. five days later. Fifty-eight waiting trucks then hauled the metal boxes to their respective destinations. Levinson describes this as the beginning of a revolution. Levinson goes on to describe some of the outcomes of this revolution. Things that today are commonplace but, prior to THE BOX, were completely unknown to us. For instance, today China is the world's workshop, building items inexpensively and shipping them all around the world in . . . THE BOX. Before the introduction of these containers, it was not common place for shoppers to find items such as Brazilian shoes and Mexican vacuum cleaners in the middle of Kansas. The little island of Japan did not have the benefit of sitting down to a meal of beef from Wyoming raised cattle. French clothing designers did not have the benefit of having the apparel cut and sewn in Turkey or Vietnam.
Levinson states that the container was instrumental in revolutionizing the world, not just because it enabled the above-described activities as well as many others, but that it enabled such shipping to be conducted in a cost effective manner. But, Levinson is clear to indicate that the container is simply a soulless, steel box held together with welds and rivets, with a wooden floor and two enormous doors at one end. In other words, the revolution was not just THE BOX, but rather how the box was used.
A typical cycle for one of these containers starts with the delivery of the container to a source of goods—such as a warehouse or a manufacturer's facilities. Typical containers measure 8 feet wide, 8.5 feet high, and 20, 40, 48 or 53 feet long. The container can then be loaded from back to front and floor to ceiling and then locked. The next step is to deliver the container to a shipping yard. The container can be moved in a variety of manners. The trucking options include the use of a tilt-bed truck, a tilt back trailer or chassis such as the products manufactured and sold under the name of LANDOLL and a chassis connected to a road tractor (typically by means of a fifth wheel). Using a tilt-bed truck or a tilt-back trailer, the bed is tilted, similar to a tow truck bed, and the container is winched onto the bed of the truck or trailer. The bed is then lowered or returned to a horizontal position and the container is clamped down. For a chassis, a crane or some other lift must be used to pick up the container and set it onto the trailer or chassis. In either case, the clamped down container can then be hauled over the road either to its intended destination or to its next point along the route. Depending on the location of the source, the container may actually begin its journey stacked onto the bed of a train or even directly loaded onto a ship. Thus, the path of a container can range from traveling from the manufacturer by truck to a destination just down the road, to traveling to a distant country over a combination of truck, trailer, chassis, rail, ship and/or air lifting.
These containers that have been so instrumental in revolutionizing our world have a few drawbacks. First of all they have a limited life in the shipment industry. Once the containers have been used a certain number of times, or by economic aging, they are then retired. Another drawback is that due to the size of these monsters, it is not an easy task to simply throw them away. However, the creative and green oriented minds of our world have discovered that the retired containers have many other uses. They can easily be converted into inexpensive but robust living quarters. For instance, when hurricane Katrina brought havoc on New Orleans, architecture students at Auburn University responded by designing simple housing shelters to be shipped to New Orleans. Other uses of the containers have included personal storage containers, underground shelters, field operation units (such as telecommunication switching centers), etc.
The new and innovative uses for containers, as well as the originally intended uses, have given rise to some deliverability issues. Often times, the desired placement locations for containers are not as widespread and open as at the typical shipping yards. To deliver containers using the current state-of-the-art delivery mechanisms, two approaches are typically used. The tilt-bed trucks and/or tilt-back trailers can place a container at a desired location but, to do so the delivery space must be at least twice the length of the container plus additional tractor and wiggle room. For instance, to deliver a 40 foot container using a tilt-back trailer, the delivery site must provide at least 112 to 132 feet of maneuverability space (40 feet for the container, 52 feet for the bed and 20-40 feet for the tractor and maneuverability).
Often times this space is simply not available. In such situations, alternate delivery means must be employed. For instance, a crane can be used to lift the container off of a trailer/chassis and set the container in the desired location. However, in many situations this approach is not practical in that a crane may not be located at the site and it may not be economically feasible to bring a crane to the site.
Another approach is to place the container at one location and then push the container into the desired location. This approach is also deficient for several reasons. For instance, the container can easily be damaged during this process thereby breaching the water tightness of the container. In addition, dragging the container and or the trailer/chassis may destroy the surface area surrounding the desired location. Other limitations are access restrictions due to utilities, boundaries (fences, walls, landscaping, etc), structures or the like.
Thus, it is apparent that there is a need in the art for a technique to deliver and place containers at a desired location. Further, there is a need in the art for a technique that can deliver and/or remove containers from a location in which little room for maneuverability is available.
In addition, a very important issue that faces the trucking industry is the goal to eliminate, whenever possible, being subject to dry runs—or moving an empty truck. For instance, when a trucker delivers a load or container, significant cost is realized in time and fuel if the trucker is not able to handle another load to head back with or to take to another location. In the container delivery industry, this issue is presently magnified because the types of load available to a truck equipped to transport containers are limited. Thus, a trucker needs the ability to haul another load (i.e., container or trailer) as backhaul or to other destinations and repeat the process. If such arrangements cannot be made, then the trucker losses significant revenue generation capabilities incurring deadhead or layover costs waiting for a load to become available. These losses could be reduced if the trucker has more options available with regards to the type of loads that can be carried (i.e., container or trailer).
Thus, there is a need in the art for a technique to deliver containers that does not limit the type of loads that can be carried to only containers, but rather, provides for compatibility for carrying containers, trailers, chassis, etc. and that can maintain access to the fifth wheel for connecting and hauling purposes.
These and other needs in the art are addressed by the various embodiments of the invention as described in the remainder of this specification.